Bluebird Of Faith
by Neko Oni
Summary: kai x rei. kai's wounded and in the hospital. there, he meets rei, who is crippled and confined to a wheelchair. rei's problems sidetrack kai, and teach the supposedly cold hearted boy about life and love.


DISCLAIMER: stands for entire fic. i don't own.  
  
WARNINGS: yaoi, kai x rei. also, heavy swearing on kai's part.  
  
SUMMARY: injured in a shoot out, kai is sent to the hospital. there, he meets rei, who is crippled and confined to a wheelchair. rei teaches the cold kai about life, and love.   
  
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BLUE BIRD OF FAITH  
  
"Faith is a blue bird, you see from a far"  
  
"Mr. Hiwatari, I think a bit of fresh air would do your rotten attitude a world of good." The nurse scolded sharply as she pushed Kai's wheelchair out of the side hall and into the hospital's garden.   
  
Kai snorted and glared straight ahead of him, arms crossed. All he cared about was healing and getting out of here as quickly as possible; he didn't give a fuck about his mental well-being or where he was going to go when he was out of here. The only thing that mattered was mending quickly and paying back that mother fucker from the rival gang, Tala, for shooting him in the stomach and leg. He was going to put a bullet point blank between that bastard's eyes.   
  
Kai yanked his blue bandanna off of his head and ran a hand through his disheveled, two toned slate blue hair. He smirked in anticipatory satisfaction as he pictured Tala in a bloody heap at his feet. That mother-fucker and his bitches would learn not to fuck with the Blade Sharks.   
  
He snorted again, jamming his bandanna back onto his head and scowling about him. The sunshine was bright, the slight breeze warm, and the flowers fragrant. He snarled in distaste and looked away, but the view was the same everywhere he turned his head.   
  
A bird's cheerful twitter followed by a soft, melodic laugh made him swivel his head. A Chinese boyl sat in a wheelchair, birdseed in his lap and in his hands, birds gathered all around him, pecking at the seeds and twittering while he laughed.   
  
He almost lost interest until he noticed something about him. The boy was astonishingly beautiful, as if he was a movie star or model straight from the runway in Paris. His raven hair was coiled in a thick bun that, when unraveled, must had flowed in a fluffy, silky curtain down to his ankles. His delicately featured, heart shaped face was adorned with striking golden eyes that now sparkled with delight at the colorful birds. His body was long, lithe, slim, and graceful looking, garbed in only a plain purple tank and flowing, black cotton skirt, his feet bare except for a beaded black and purple anklet.  
  
Feeling eyes on him, the amber eyed boy turned, smiled briefly in Kai's direction, then went back to his birds. Kai rolled his eyes and snorted, feeling like he was trapped in some Disney film; he half expected seven tiny men to come over the hill, carrying picks and singing.   
  
The boy flicked him an annoyed look before reaching out to the bowl on top of the stone bench next to his wheelchair and grabbing another handful of seeds, turning his wheelchair fully away from Kai.   
  
Kai's own ruby eyes narrowed, and he hocked up a good amount of saliva then spat on the nearest bird, causing all of the winged creatures to take to the trees. He felt a bit of satisfaction at seeing the pout on the boy's pretty face.  
  
The Chinese boy whirled his chair around with practiced ease and glared at him. "Just because you're in a foul mood doesn't give you the right to ruin everybody's else's." He dusted seeds from his hands onto the cemented, wide garden walkway.  
  
"I'll do whatever the fuck I want." Kai sneered, glad to have someone to vent his frustrations on again.   
  
Rei crinkled his nose distastefully. The boy with raging crimson orbs and blue hair would have been incredibly cute and handsome if it hadn't been for that ugly scowl marring his features, nor the snapping coldness in his eyes. Though, other than some visible scars, he couldn't find fault with the rest of the toned, muscular body. Blushing a bit, he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. "Yeah, you do that." Rei said calmly, turning his wheelchair around and dumping the seeds off his lap, shaking his skirt to get rid of the scattered crumbs.  
  
Kai was about to retaliate when a nurse's aide came out of the double doors and knelt down besides the boy. He said something to the youth, who nodded, then lifted up the boy's black skirt, glancing under it then writing something down on his clipboard before leaving. Kai watched with mild interest as the young Chinese caught his gaze, blushed furiously, and rearranged his skirt very self-consciously, as if he was trying to hide something.  
  
The faint blush staining the naturally tan cheeks held his attention, as did the boy's incredibly long, black eyelashes. This boy was incredibly, breath-takingly beautiful. He was drop dead gorgeous. Kai shook his head to clear it, but before he knew what he was doing, he had grasped the wheels of his own wheelchair and rolled himself over to the boy, who looked down at his clasped hands in his lap.  
  
  
  
Kai drank in the sight of the silky black hair, stray tendrils of it swaying in the breeze, the gentle rise and fall of his chest, the tempting, full lips, honeyed amber eyes and beautiful tan skin that was only marred with the sickly yellow paleness that came from prolonged sickness and hospital stay. "What's your name?" He asked softly.  
  
The beautiful boy looked up, his golden eyes wide. As he leaned back in his chair, Kai reached out and grasped his upper arm, holding it gently yet firmly so he didn't hurt the boy, who looked much like a delicate porcelain doll, albeit a broken one. The boy turned his head away, only answering when Kai's hand never left his arm. "Why do you care?" He refused to raise those long, thick lashes and meet his eyes.  
  
Kai shrugged. "I don't."  
  
Rei didn't reply, closing his eyes to hold back tears. That was right; no one cared about him. He was now alone and lost in this vast world, with no one who loved him. After he healed enough to function on his own, he would be sent to an orphanage or a nursing home.   
  
Biting his lower lip, Rei tugged his arm free and rubbed the spot where the bigger boy had held his arm, though he wasn't in any pain from the touch, his skin tingled. He looked fully away, staring at the twittering birds hoping amongst the tree branches.   
  
"I didn't mean to hurt you." The apology was gruff yet gentle, as if the other boy couldn't stop himself from saying it.  
  
"Rei Kon."  
  
"What?"  
  
"My name is Rei Kon." 'I'm the only Kon left......" The Chinese youth thought, then felt tears prick his eyes once more as he stared intently at the birds, which twittered, chirped, and cheeped amongst themselves, hoping around on the twigs. A stray tear trickled down his cheek.  
  
The boy looked suddenly so very sad, positively drowning in the depths of despair. It was as if his spirit and heart had suddenly been shattered into fragile, tiny fragments. Kai's own anger and frustration dissipated under it's gentle, yet powerful, force, and, for once in his life, he was at a loss of what to say, and he shifted uncomfortably.   
  
Quickly shoving his grief into the back of his heart, Rei sniffled and wiped at his eyes, still cradling his arms and saying nothing, not really wanting to be around anyone at the moment, especially a stranger.  
  
"I'm Kai Hiwatari." He spoke low, trying to make his voice gentle, it seemed. More silence followed, Kai not knowing what to do, and Rei just wanting to be alone.  
  
Rei chanced a quick glance at Kai before looking back down at his slightly shaking hands. He was a bit nervous, having this attractive, unknown boy so close to him, and he was still thinking about before....  
  
Kai studied the boy, frowning a bit. For some odd reason, he didn't want the smaller, frail looking youth to fear him. He hesitated, waiting for Rei to make a move, but the boy didn't even so much as look in his direction. "I won't hurt you."  
  
Rei gave a hollow laugh, wiping away a stray tear. Here they were, in the middle of Shady Lane Rehab Center, in plain view of the workers, and both of them in wheelchairs.   
  
Kai blinked at the unexpected reaction, then narrowed his eyes. If they had met on the his streets, the Blade Sharks' turf, the Chinese boy would have run from him in fear. Many people had, but none had ever laughed in his face before. He started to growl.  
  
Rei looked at Kai then, and held his sides as he laughed harder, the laughter giving him release from his own tears and pain. "Really? What would you do to me?" The hooded amber eyes mocked, taking in Kai's bandanna and the scars visible on his bare arms and chest. "Shoot me? Stab me?" The heavily lashed lids lowered, the eyes turning a bright umber, making him look like a passionate seductress. "Or perhaps, " The boy's mouth twisted. "you'll rape me?" He finished, laughing harder still.  
  
Kai growled louder still, fighting every desire to hit that smart mouth, forcing himself to look at how thin the boy was, though, shaking with mocking laughter, he no longer seemed so frail and helpless. "Watch it, or I will."  
  
Rei laughed even harder, tears of laughter trickling down his cheeks. "Oh, Kai, that.....oh....that was priceless....I needed that...." He calmed down, heaving as he tried to regain his breath. He looked sideways at the bigger boy, his eyes now sparkling, a bit of color returned to his cheeks, making him look almost healthy and very pretty again.  
  
"Hmph." He crossed his arms and looked away, stewing in his own juices.  
  
Rei felt a tad bit guilty. "Come on, what could you possibly do? Look at where we are." Rei gestured with one arm around him, then motioned to their wheelchairs. "In here...it's not the same as out there." He said softly.  
  
Kai only snorted. Rei sympathized, remembering when he was new. "You'll get used to it."  
  
Kai growled and whirled around to face him. "There's nothing to get used to. I'm going to do my therapy then get the hell out of here, soon as I build my muscles up again."  
  
Rei's eyes darkened and he gave Kai a disgusted look before turning away again. "If you want to be hostile, fine, but you're not the only one who's been through shit in their life."  
  
Kai snorted. "Why should I give a fuck about anyone else?"  
  
"Yes, why should you?" Rei muttered bitterly, wheeling himself a few feet away to the small, stagnant fountain tucked into one corner. He gazed intently at the white water lilies, which were closed; they were flowers of the night, opening only under the moon's caress.  
  
It was that exact selfish attitude that Rei hated. It was the attitude that so many people had; it was that attitude that caused his father, who had walked out when Rei was a baby, to dump him here to rot. Angry tears pricked at his eyes. "Why should anyone care about anyone except themselves? It doesn't matter who they hurt, who they trample, who they cast aside. So long as they themselves fill fulfilled." The shimmering drops trickled down his cheeks, landing gently on his hands, which were once again clasped, trembling, in his lap.  
  
Kai stared blankly at the boy, once again taken off guard. He had expected the boy to retaliate negatively, firing an insult at his head, maybe say a few hateful words back and shed a few angry tears. But to be like that, so hurt and open.....Rei's soul must truly be shattered.   
  
Kai sighed, the wretched, broken creature moving his heart once more. "Rei, I-" He broke off, once again in unfamiliar territory. He wheeled himself over and slowly reached out to touch the Chinese boy, but he flinched away, his chest hitching.   
  
He gazed in silence while Rei buried his face in his hands, truly breaking down as sobs assaulted his thin, suddenly worn and beaten looking body. Waiting until the sobbing died down so he could talk, he reached over and fingered a lock of thick, shiny, fluffy raven hair. "All I seem to do is make you cry."  
  
Rei shook his head, wiping at his eyes with his fingers. "It's not you, its...." He trailed off, unwilling to tell a total stranger, albeit a hot one, his inner turmoil and heart ache. "It's....it's nothing." He sniffled, then raised his head; he was about to speak, but the gentle look in those intense, formerly raging eyes took him by surprise and stole away his breath.  
  
Those shattered amber orbs caught hold of his soul and held him spellbound; Kai couldn't have looked away if his life depended on it. The other boy was breathing a bit fast, his face slack, and his full, pink, inviting lips partly open. His small tongue flicked nervously over them once, and it was like a trigger in Kai's brain; he automatically leaned over and gently pressed his lips to those warm, soft ones.  
  
Rei's eyes widened even more as heat spread from Kai's lips throughout the rest of his body. Unsure and scared of what was happening, Rei instinctively slapped Kai across his cheek, causing the boy to immediately pull back.   
  
They stared wide eyed at each other, Kai holding a hand to his cheek. Rei's cheeks flushed pink as he panted, fear making his heart beat faster. "Ex-excuse me, I must go now." Rei gripped his wheels tightly, his knuckles white as he turned his wheelchair and wheeled himself away, back into the building.  
  
tbc.... 


End file.
